Environmentally friendly cleaning solutions use electrically
activated water in place of chemicals

March 28, 2011 09:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ARAMARK, a world leader in providing professional services, is
introducing an environmentally friendly “Blue Cleaning” program to its
custodial management customers across North America. Tested in several
universities and school districts, convention centers,
and businesses across the country, this innovative program uses
electrically activated water in place of chemicals to safely clean most
floors, carpets and hard surface areas.

“We are committed to finding sustainable solutions that provide optimal
safety for our employees and customers, while reducing the overall
impact on the environment,” said Chris Hackem, President & Chief
Operating Officer for ARAMARK’s Higher Education, K-12 Education and
Correctional Services businesses. ‘“By leveraging the power of
electrically activated water, our ‘Blue Cleaning’ program can help our
custodial clients minimize their environmental footprint and increase
safety, productivity and convenience.”

ARAMARK’s “Blue Cleaning” program employs multiple technologies, which
apply a low-level electrical charge to tap water, transforming it into
an electrically activated water (EAW) cleaning solution that breaks
apart and lifts dirt from surfaces like a magnet. Hard surfaces can then
be wiped clean quickly, without leaving a surface residue like
chemical-based agents.

In partnership with Orbio Technologies, a Tennant Company Group, and
Activeion Cleaning Solutions, ARAMARK tested the “Blue Cleaning” program
at several of its client locations across the country.

“Our testing found that the ARAMARK process was highly effective in a
variety of routine cleaning applications, including spray-and-wipe
cleaning, hard floor scrubbing, and carpet cleaning,” said Matt Judge,
ARAMARK’s Senior Director of Facilities Innovation. “Even in large
venues, such as universities, schools and convention centers, the ‘Blue
Cleaning’ program proved to be comparable, if not better, than
conventional chemical cleaners.”

ARAMARK tested the hand-held Activeion® Ionator EXP with Orbio
Electroporation technology which uses a low-level, externally applied
electrical field to permanently disrupt and destroy bacteria. The
Company also collaborated with Orbio Technologies on the development and
testing of the Orbio® 5000-Sc, the first product to utilize Orbio Split
Stream technology, which electrically restructures water and salt to
create, store and dispense an environmentally friendly general purpose
cleaning solution right on the customer’s site.

The custodial operators who participated in the testing across all of
the different venues reported positive findings, including that there
was no odor compared to chemical cleaning; carpets were softer; and
there was no streaking on glass surfaces or degradation on wood or
terrazzo flooring. In addition, operator safety increased because there
was no need to mix general purpose chemicals. (See Editor’s Note
for more background and test results.)

ARAMARK provides comprehensive operator training and customer support as
part of the “Blue Cleaning” program to ensure the ongoing safety and
effectiveness of the program across all custodial applications. For more
information about ARAMARK’s “Blue Cleaning” program, please visit www.aramarkhighered.com.

About ARAMARK

ARAMARK is a leader in professional services, providing award-winning
food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to
health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums
and arenas, and businesses around the world. The company is recognized
as the industry leader in FORTUNE magazine's "World's Most Admired
Companies," and as one of America's Largest Private Companies by both
FORTUNE and Forbes magazines. ARAMARK seeks to responsibly
address issues that matter to its clients, customers, employees and
communities by focusing on employee advocacy, environmental stewardship,
health and wellness, and community involvement. Headquartered in
Philadelphia, ARAMARK has approximately 255,000 employees serving
clients in 22 countries. Learn more at the company's Web site, www.aramark.com,
or www.twitter.com/aramarknews.

About Tennant Company

Minneapolis-based Tennant Company (NYSE: TNC) is a world leader in
designing, manufacturing and marketing solutions that help create a
cleaner, safer, healthier world. Its products include equipment for
maintaining surfaces in industrial, commercial and outdoor environments;
chemical-free and other sustainable cleaning technologies; and specialty
surface coatings for protecting, repairing and upgrading floors.
Tennant's global field service network is the most extensive in the
industry. Tennant has manufacturing operations in Minneapolis, Minn.;
Holland, Mich.; Louisville, Ky.; Uden, The Netherlands; the United
Kingdom; São Paulo, Brazil; and Shanghai, China; and sells products
directly in 15 countries and through distributors in more than 80
countries. For more information, visit www.tennantco.com.

About Activeion Cleaning Solutions Activeion Cleaning Solutions,
LLC, is a privately held clean technology company. It strives to protect
the health and safety of all people, and foster a more sustainable
world, by creating revolutionary, chemical-free cleaning and
anti-microbial technologies for everyday use. Addressing the
ever-growing need for sustainable cleaning, Activeion’s ionized water
technology solutions are ideal for restaurants, hotels, hospitals,
schools and private residences. For more information, visit www.activeion.com,
and follow Activeion on Facebook/activeion, or Twitter @activeion.

Editor’s Note:Background/Test Results

ARAMARK measured the cleaning performance of the EAW solutions on hard
wood and terrazzo floors, carpets and hard surfaces, such as door
entrances, railings and desks.

Baseline measurements of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were taken before
and after the test by a third-party consulting company. ATP is the
universal protein molecule found in all animal, plant, bacteria, yeast
and mold cells. By measuring the amount of ATP on a surface, a
quantifiable standard of hygiene can be established that defines when a
surface is really clean.

Over the course of six weeks, the hard surface areas were ATP swabbed,
cleaned and then swabbed again. Results concluded a 90-92 percent
average ATP reduction through ARAMARK’s “Blue Cleaning” program compared
to a 75-79 percent reduction with conventional cleaning chemicals.

The gloss and traction of the hard wood and terrazzo floors were
maintained, with a modest improvement, using the EAW solution. The
carpets were found to be slightly cleaner and drier following the
implementation of the “Blue Cleaning” program.